The Tale of the Body Thief (The Vampire Chronicles #4)

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About this book

For centuries, Lestat --- vampire-hero, enchanter, seducer of mortals --- has been a courted prince in the dark and flourishing universe of the living dead. Now Lestat is alone. And suddenly all his vampire rationale --- everything he has come to believe and feel safe with --- is called into question. In his overwhelming need to destroy his doubts and his loneliness, Lestat embarks on the most dangerous enterprise he has undertaken in all the danger-haunted years of his long existence ...

Reader's Thoughts

Kami

This one was took the series back up a notch for me. I was dissapointed in Queen of the Damned.

Weary of immortality and longing for some form of redemption, the vampire Lestat impulsively accepts the offer of a sorcerer to exchange bodies for two days. It comes as no surprise that there is a double-cross, and Lestat is trapped in the body of a human. He enlists the aid of his friend David Talbot, an elite member of the Talamasca, a secret organization that studies supernatural phenomena. Together, they must find a way to unseat the wizard from Lestat's super powerful body and restore the vampire to his rightful shell.Like the previous book in the series, "Queen of the Damned," this one takes a while to get going. In fact, a full 200 pages pass before reflection and philosophy finally recede a bit and a plot begins to assert itself. Once it does, though, the book really takes off and turns out to be a terrific read with a surprising ending. I wish Anne Rice would get better at integrating her themes and her plots so that we could be spared these long, meandering prologues (however insightful they may be) before the action starts.

Cyndy Aleo

Once upon a time, Anne Rice had an excellent series called the Vampire Chronicles. It began with Interview with the Vampire, where her "main" vampire, Lestat, is introduced, and continued her focus on the various adventures and mishaps of Lestat through this novel, The Tale of the Body Thief.::: Oh, That Silly Lestat. There He Goes Again :::The Tale of the Body Thief begins with the age-old question of the existence of God. Lestat, as usual, begins the narration, and the topic continues as he meets with the Superior General of the Talamasca, David Talbot. The Talamasca is a secret organization who studies all facets of the supernatural, from vampires to telekinesis, and David's friendship with Lestat is frowned upon by the rest of the group. Nevertheless, Talbot describes his own theory of a fallible God and a Devil who actually has the position in shifts with others, no one wanting to be the face of evil.Lestat sees himself as a form of the Devil, becoming evil when his mortality was sacrificed when he was made a vampire. Of course, The Tale of the Body Thief will give Lestat the opportunity to change all that; a man capable of swapping bodies at will offers Lestat the chance to experience a mortal body again. Protests from Talbot and Lestat's vampire compatriot Louis (the protagonist of Interview ignored, Lestat makes the deal with the mortal, Raglan James, and almost immediately realizes that his usual impulsivity has led to what might be the permanent loss of his body. In the mortal body, Lestat is horrified by what he considers to be the foul side of being human again almost immediately, and while in the body, he becomes ill, gets drunk, has sex, and finally turns to Louis for assistance, begging to be remade as a vampire. Louis, of course, refuses, seeing Lestat's folly as a chance for redemption, and Lestat turns instead to Talbot to formulate a plan to regain his own body.::: The Plot Thickens... And Goes Missing :::As much as I love the Vampire Chronicles, I hate Lestat. When they made the movie of Interview with the Vampire with Tom Cruise playing the role, I was doubly annoyed, for a despised actor was playing a despised role. The arrogant, half-cocked antics of Lestat have always annoyed me, even when I loved the books, and The Tale of the Body Thief is no different. Both times I've read the book, I found myself wanting to slap Lestat silly for his stupidity, but without his stupidity there would be no book. None of the other vampires from the Chronicles would be so stupid as to hand over what is one of the most powerful vampiric bodies to a common thief, yet that is exactly what Lestat does, trusting that he won't be duped, even though the reader can see it coming from miles away.Still, the book is an excellent read. The beginning sections with the theories of God and Evil are intriguing, and the mere concept of someone who has has preternatural powers for centuries reverting to the ordinary humanity he has forgotten was a fascinating read, and Rice provides the reader with a very realistic vision of what that might be like.There are only two things that keep the novel from being truly superb. One is the addition of a nun Lestat meets in the hospital when the mortal body falls ill. While this interlude seems to be a vehicle for more discussion of morality, it seems beyond contrived (why would a volunteer nun take an ill man she doesn't know out of the hospital and bring him to her home?) and is just another excuse for Rice to add in one of her requisite number of sex scenes. The other is a feeling that somehow the question of whether or not there is a God got lost in the shuffle. After Talbot's description of "seeing" a conversation between God and the Devil in his past, I felt like by the end of the novel there might be some inkling of what this episode was, or some answer other than Lestat's own belief whether it was true. It all seems to rest in his contact with Gretchen, and it falls flat.The Tale of the Body Thief, nonetheless, is an excellent and entertaining read. For once, Lestat gets a bit of comeuppance for his arrogance, although that never seems to slow him down for long. The Tale of the Body Thief is still one of the better books in the Vampire Chronicles series. This review previously published at Epinions: http://www.epinions.com/review/The_Ta...

Raquel

I absolutely loved the ending to Queen of the Damned. Now, I wonder if I should have stopped reading The Vampire Chronicles then. The Tale of the Body Thief is told by The Vampire Lestat, Rice's famous "brat prince". After the events of the last novel the few remaining immortals have disbanded and he now wanders the earth alone, again. He has befriended David Talbot, of the Talamasca, and constantly offers the old man the Dark Gift, which he always refuses. Depressed, lonely, and constantly haunted by visions of Claudia, he attempts suicide in the Gobi Desert.After his failed suicide attempt, Lestat returns to David home and heals. Later he's approached by Raglan James, a mysterious man who has being following him around the world. He offers Lestat an opportunity to be human again. A process which requires them to switch bodies. Lestat becomes convinced that it's the one thing he really wants.Despite the warnings of his friends, Lestat and Raglan come to and agreement to trade bodies for a day. However, Raglan has no intention of returning Lestat's immortal and powerful body, leaving him in a weakened state. After the Louis and Marius both refuse to help Lestat turns to David to reclaim his body.At first, I partially disliked Lestat in Interview with the Vampire. In The Vampire Lestat and Queen of the Damned, he grew on me. In this book however, there was something about him I couldn't stand. I did love the book and the Rice writing is amazing, but it took a while for me to really get into the story. Not until Lestat went to see Louis did I get motivated to read more.

SmarterLilac

** spoiler alert **
I actually like this one. The nun Lestat hooks up with is thoughtfully characterized and interesting. I've always been intrigued by Rice's decision to have her say she sought out a lover because her "virginity had become an obstacle." I wonder how common an experience that is for the clergy?

Mary Marmalady

** spoiler alert **
At the end of Queen of the Damned, I was annoyed that Lestat had to go bother some human I didn't care about. But I guess it's okay since Lestat needs a human friend in this story. I liked this story because it gave an outsider's look into being human. I didn't buy the rape scene and thought Rice should have talked even a little more about the cold but if sunlight is really the only thing vampires miss about being human, why aren't there more vampires? As the story went on, Lestat seemed to like being human more and more. I measured his progress by how little or then how much he likes his food. It goes from sawdust to flavorful. And yet being human isn't enough for Lestat and he has to quit this experiment. If anyone would help Lestat become a vampire again, I should think he would know that the very worst vampire to ask is Louis. He's weak anyway. Wouldn't Lestat have asked Armand? This was a pretty good read. The only thing I didn't like was that Lestat now knows vampires can swap bodies with humans and he doesn't offer to repeat this experiment with Louis. The whole time I was reading this book, I was waiting for Louis to become human again. If any vampire truly wants to go back, wouldn't Louis? I don't think Anne Rice considered this possibility while writing this book, otherwise she could have them both think of this possibility and both know that Lestat will never offer it because he's too selfish to let Louis go. If Lestat had gone to Louis in his human body and instead of asking Louis to make him a vampire, asked Louis to trade bodies, this would be a very different story. Louis refusing to make another vampire and Lestat refusing to make a humn of a vampire might have been an interesting standoff.

Jane

I was surprised at how much I enjoyed this book. As an Anne Rice fan I was inclined to read this book (which I had previously entirely missed out in my reading) but I found that from the blurb on the back I was very disinterested and therefore it took me ages to get into it. Once I did however I found that it was exquisitely written and captivating much as I have come to expect of her novels. This book focuses on Lestat and how he chose to face his undead existence until of course meeting with Raglan James (the body thief). The book draws you to wonder what will happen should he partake of this offer and presents itself in an enticing way, though to see what he does you'll simply have to read it! The theme of the book does sound almost cringe-worthy but it is built up and made into essential reading, even from so much as the descriptions of the transitions of souls it is absolutely fascinating and the metaphors comparing god and faith into fire and flame. A truly wonderful descriptive piece.

Lisa

** spoiler alert **
Another great book in the Vampire Chronicles, and possibly one of my favourites so far...We already knew that Lestat is awesome; the petulant, selfish, petty and yet incredibly charming, intelligent and seductive vampire hero of the series, and through this book we must now add another descriptive - hilarious.Rice solves the problem of having a near invincible hero through a concept that I thought worked incredibly well; by having him take part in a trade - his body for that of a mortal man, for a period of 2 nights and a day, believing that the dream of vampires is to be reborn again as human. When the Body Thief (the guy he's traded with) promptly disappears (which, of course he was going to Lestat, you bloody idiot) Lestat finds it more a nightmare than a dream being stuck in such a fragile body and starts a desperate search for the fiend so he can recover his own and wreak revenge.Rice really has a firm grasp on Lestat's voice now and he's never less than entertaining (even while being a complete bastard), but never more so than during his period stuck in the mortal body. His complete wretchedness and fits of near hysteria every time he has to do something simple like walking on a rug (he could fall and smash his head open) or shaving his beard (he's bound to slit his throat), along with his temper tantrums (his arson attack on Louis' home during a fit of pique, and his protests of 'I'm the leader!' during the assembling of his new coven are just a couple of such great moments) had me guffawing loudly. It'll be extremely interesting to see how the dynamics of this new group play themselves out over the coming books (if they do at all), and I'm looking forward to them immensely.

Tamcamry

• I thought that this is by far Anne Rice’s best description of Lestat’s true character. Everything he did in this book was exactly what I would expect someone who is supposed to be so selfish and evil to do. Throughout the rest of the books Rice tries so hard to tell you that Lestat is really not good, that he can do evil things, and she tries desperately to make him into this anti-hero. This is the first book where I think she does a really good job of it. This makes me want to read more about Lestat. In Queen of the Damned, it seemed like she tried to tell a story while telling us all about her vampires’ history. I think that if she would have either done one or the other, the result would have been good, but as it turned out, both the story and the history faltered. This was purely a story. A list of interesting and suspenseful events that kept me interested.

Frank

The first Rice novel I ever read. I was in Bari, Italy, waiting for the ferry to take me to Corfu, Greece. I was reading a hideously boring Candadian novel, and the young lady in line next to me was reading The Tale of the Body Thief. We switched books. I had never heard of Anne Rice. I fell in love with the book. Soon after, when I was in Sorrento a few weeks later, I was searching for any Rice books I could find. Her writing is lush. Reading this book was like wearing a mink coat inside-out i.e. you feel the soft luxurious fur on your skin. Lestat, the main character, is a very egotistical vampire, yet he is very amicable. The story is very interesting. It is a man hunt. Someone has tricked Lestat into switching bodies, so Lestat becomes a mere human. Lestat and his friend must find the "body thief". The action is not abundant and not thrilling. What attracts you to the story and keeps you reading is the language Rice uses and the character of Lestat. I highly recommend this book.

Barakiel

I love dark stories and I've heard all the hype about this series, but this wasn't what I expected. It was dark, yes, but in a devilish/occultic kind of way. Made me very uncomfortable as a "Christian" (I'll go with that title for the sake of argument). That said, here are the pros and cons:Pros:1. Intriguing narrative that pulls you in2. A thoughtful story with suspense and er, events (sadly, there's not much action)3. An "evil" vampire's view of the world (though I expected more evil, he was much too caring; seemed incongruous)4. Super powers, yay! 5. I enjoyed the last chapter, though I would have liked more sadism, ha!6. A female author did a splendid job of writing from a man's POV, methinks7. (view spoiler)[Suicide (hide spoiler)]8. (view spoiler)[I also loved that one wonders if Claudia is actually haunting him or if he's just going slightly insane from grief/guilt. (hide spoiler)]Cons:1. Er, rape.2. Too much sex overall. I mean I do understand that a man is generally preoccupied with sex, but perhaps it could have been more subtly incorporated (with less "members" and "triangles".) Blegh.3. (view spoiler)[Nun loses virginity. Made me go: What. The. Hell. (hide spoiler)]4. Stupid decisions by main character, which would be fine if something more was done with it. But it was all rather boringly predictable with little in the way of plot twists.5. I expected more blood drinking, but perhaps there's more of that in the previous books? As someone who enjoyed the Twilight stories despite the sparklays and has witnessed many memes comparing these superior vampires to those inferior ones - I have to ask: (view spoiler)["Lestat is GAY?!?!" Well, bi at least. (hide spoiler)]I doubt I'll read the rest of this series.["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>

Catt

Lestat takes a great leap of faith in this book. He resides in a mortal body, while his body is on loan and used for all kinds of nefairous deeds. He experiences all the human traits that we take for granted. The sunrise, the food, the smells and of course our weaknesses. i loved how Mrs. Rice explained the differences of our vision to that of the vampires. She really paints an interesting picture of mortality in this novel. But anywho, things take a turn for the worse when Lestat does not get his body back when arranged. He relies on his human friend David Talbot for aid. And what does he do in return? How does Lestat show his gratitude? It broke my heart a little to know that in the end, Lestat will always be a monster under the grace and the attitude. =0( But definitely a good read and a better book in the series.

Bonnie

This is one of my most favorite Anne Rice books ever, and I've read quite a few. The Tale of the Body Thief is one story I will never forget. Highly recommended. :)

Angie

This was one of my favourite Anne Rice books probably because she changes things a bit. The book is all modern day with no back history at all. That in itself is a first for this series. Lestat is bored. Bored of his life and bored of hanging out with the other vampires at Armand's place.He's approached by some guy and against all advice decides to body swap for a couple of days. He could fly!! Why would he want to be ordinary? Things obviously go wrong and he gets David from the Talamasca to help him get his body back. The book is lots of fun, Lestat is so cool and David who is a bit in love with him is a great addition to the book.This is lots of fun, Lestat as a human was amusing, I was laughing at a lot of his reactions. So I'd recommend this book, but I think you have to read them in order or there's no chance of understanding the characters.